It has been suggested that Le Guin’s title is a reference to Dostoyevsky’s novel about anarchists, Demons (Russian: ????, Bésy), one popular English-language translation of which is titled The Possessed.[12] Much of the philosophical underpinnings and ecological concepts came from Murray Bookchin’s Post-Scarcity Anarchism (1971), according to a letter Le Guin sent to Bookchin. Anarres citizens are dispossessed not just by political choice, but by the very lack of actual resources to possess. Here, again, Le Guin draws a contrast with the natural wealth of Urras, and the competitive behaviors this fosters.